Nursery Inspiration & Progress

Eric and I have a 3-bedroom house. Pre-baby we used the rooms as our master bedroom, a guest bedroom and an office. Now that Mini Matto is on the way we are changing the guest bedroom to the nursery and the office is now a combo office/guest bedroom. It’s a little tight in there, but we don’t have overnight guests that often so we figured the baby should get the bigger room. Plus, from what I hear, babies come with lots of stuff.

So when browsing for nursery ideas where do you think I turned? Pinterest, you say? Oh, but of course! Pinterest is my go-to for all things time consuming. Luckily I did have a few ideas up my sleeve before going online otherwise I would have been a bit overwhelmed with it all.

While I want people to be able to tell it’s a boys or girls room I want it to whisper “boy” or “girl” more than shout it. So things like the paint color, bedding and furniture I wanted to be gender neutral. One, I thought that was a good idea in case at delivery we find out the ultrasound tech was wrong and two I’m indecisive and so wanted a room I could switch around the style easily in case I get tired of it. So while the big items would be gender neutral I would boy or girl it up with accessories and decor.  This also meant no theme. I knew if I picked “teddy bears” or “ballerinas” my eyes would start bleeding after a couple weeks as I went in for 3am feedings . I also heard from other moms that telling people you’re going with a theme prompts people to get overzealous and buy you something anytime they run across an item that goes with your theme. And who likes hundreds of stuffed teddy bear eyes staring at them while they breastfeed? The only thing worse than that would be clowns…plus that’s just asking for your child to have issues (sorry, clown lovers).

So I digress. The main colors I fell in love with were a light gray and yellow. Below are some examples I found on Pinterest for inspiration:

I’m drawn to the style of Danish & Mid Century furniture. I like the clean lines of the natural cribs. The excitment of the rooms are in the detail. A quick look at the room might make some think “boring.” But once you walk around and look at each item closely you realize everything has a story and a reason for being there.  I knew I wanted to DIY as much as I could. I wanted to make it personable – I wanted the room to be my babies and not some catalogs. Hence, when I couldn’t find any crib bedding that I liked (or could afford) I decided I was going to bring back my high school sewing class skills and make one myself – yes, you read that right. So I have a pattern (shown below) and will update you as it progresses – or just pisses me off, because surely that’s an option with sewing.

So, where we are right now. First, I went to Home Depot and Lowe’s to look at all the gray paint swatches. I came home with WAY to many. I suggest trying to narrow it down to 3 or 4 before you leave the store because coming home & doing this, did not make the decision any easier like I thought it would.

But after staring several times throughout the day and a quick game of Eenie Meenie Minee Moe, I made a decision. So on Labor Day the paint crew (consisting of Eric’s parents and my friend, Breena) came over. The color I chose, in case you’re curious, is Martha Stewart’s “Heavy Goose.” in an eggshell finish. Don’t worry, I read up on the dos and donts of painting while pregnant and I was good to go. Plus, I got extra safe and bought low VOC paint and kept the room well ventilated. Here is a quick pic of me in action (left wall, old paint. right wall, new paint).

Then, and it could have been the hormones, I decided to go a little crazy. The second to last picture of my nursery inspirations up there sparked a fire in me that wouldn’t go away. I wanted a chevron wall…like BAD. So I bought white paint (Martha Stewart’s “Picket Fence”) and grabbed our yard stick, level and painter’s tape and went to town. Well, first I found this tutorial, and then I went to town. I was so antsy I didn’t even bother to ask for help (which, by the way, there will never be a picture of Eric and a paintbrush. That is not allowed in this house – it doesn’t matter if it’s one color and one wall, he’ll find a way to mess it up). The whole thing (not including dry time for the paint) took around 4 hours and was honestly way easier than I was expecting. This is probably the only project I can think of ever doing where if I did it again I wouldn’t tweak anything – and I’m OCD about straight lines if that tells you anything. Here is the progression:

First you put up the painter's tape outline

Next you paint every other one

 

Finally peel the tape and TA DA! Instant chevron wall!

Close-up

This wall is where the crib will go and above the crib I plan on doing some type of gallery with picture frames. If you’re wanting to do something similar yourself I definitely recommend Frog Tape. They pride themselves on their ability to not let the paint bleed through and to leave a sharp, straight edge when peeling and I’ll have to agree. It costs a little more, but I thought it was worth it to guarantee straight lines.

Alright that’s it for this nursery update. Whew, I’m exhausted! Not sure what I’ll tackle next, but you can rest assured that you’ll hear about it!